Siheyuan: I just want to live

Chen Feng pedaled his bicycle leisurely and slowly drove into the bustling and lively city of Beijing. His goal was clear - Beijing Department Store.

Not long after, Chen Feng arrived at Wangfujing Street. Near the department store, he found a place where someone was guarding the vehicle. After paying two cents for parking, he parked his bicycle there and locked it. Then, he walked towards the entrance of the department store.

As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the department store, Chen Feng saw people coming and going. Perhaps because today was a holiday, people had more time, so they all came to shop and have fun.

Chen Feng stopped and looked up, only to see the bright red characters "Beijing Wangfujing Department Store" shining brightly in the bright sunshine, which was particularly eye-catching.

In the city of Beijing, which has a long history and profound cultural heritage, there is a magnificent building - Beijing Department Store Wangfujing Department Store. This store was officially established on September 1955, 9, becoming the only store in the country approved to enjoy national purchasing rights.

Walking into this store, you feel like you are in a colorful world. The shelves are filled with a wide variety of goods, from local specialty products to all kinds of civilian products produced by factories across the country. There is even a saying that goes: Don't go to Beijing Department Store for anything you can't buy there!

In order to provide customers with a more comfortable shopping experience, the building is fully equipped with spacious and bright customer lounges and clean toilets, as well as fitting rooms where people can try on their favorite clothes. In addition, each floor is equipped with advanced ventilation equipment to ensure fresh air circulation.

On the opening day, the scene was so popular that more than 30.9 people flooded into the store. When night fell and the store closed, two baskets were filled with abandoned shoes. Its daily sales reached an astonishing yuan! Because of this, it was praised as "the No. store in China" and became famous.

As Chen Feng walked into the department store, he saw a crowd of people, and each counter was surrounded by people.

He followed the crowd to the cloth counter and lined up with the crowd. Soon it was his turn. Chen Feng chose a three-piece bedding set, a quilt cover with a blue phoenix wearing a peony pattern, and a quilt lining, using a total of 35 feet of cloth coupons. He also picked a thick blue cloth and a thin green cloth, using 15 feet of cloth coupons. After spending yuan and using up all the cloth coupons he exchanged on the black market, Chen Feng left the counter with satisfaction, holding the cloth.

After leaving the cloth counter, Chen Feng found a cotton counter and bought 20 kilograms of cotton for yuan. After paying the money and getting the invoice, Chen Feng found that he did not bring the bag for the cotton!

So, under the salesperson's incredulous gaze, he stuffed the cotton into the quilt, then squeezed out of the department store carrying a large bag.

After leaving the department store, Chen Feng went to the parking lot and got the car. He did not put the baggage on the back seat. A goat was placed on the back seat in the morning, and the blood stains had not been wiped clean yet.

Chen Feng carried the bag on his back and rushed to the courtyard all the way. It was not that he did not want to put the things back into the space, but such a large bag was too conspicuous. Everyone along the way saluted Chen Feng and there was no time to collect the things.

Under the gaze of thousands, Chen Feng finally arrived at the gate of the courtyard. As soon as he moved the car over the threshold, he heard Yan Fugui's voice asking, "Chen Feng! Where have you been? Why are you carrying a big bag back?"

Looking up, Yan Fugui was watering the flowers. He was asked to water those flowers every day, so why wasn't he afraid of killing them?

Chen Feng replied, "Hey! Didn't I go to the department store to buy cotton? I forgot to bring a sack, so I could only pack it up like this and carry it back!"

"I won't talk to you anymore. It's almost noon. I'll go home and cook. You go ahead and do your work. See you later!" Chen Feng didn't want to chat with him, so he just responded with a few words and pushed the cart home.

When he arrived at the middle courtyard, no one asked Chen Feng what he was carrying behind him. Chen Feng did not stay here and went straight to his own home in the backyard. There were not many people outside the backyard. The old lady did not come out of the room, and the doors of the other houses were also closed.

Chen Feng opened the door, pushed the bike in, and closed it. He parked the bike and went into the inner bedroom. He found a clean sack and moved the cotton from the quilt cover into the sack.

Refold the duvet cover and put the other two pieces of the three-piece set in the closet with it.

He found a pen and paper, wrote down his body data on it, and put it in his pocket. Then he stuffed the remaining cloth and cotton into the sack, carried the sack on his back, locked the door, and went to the front yard.

Arriving at the front yard of Jiang's house, he saw that the door was ajar and not locked. Chen Feng stopped and called out softly to the yard: "Auntie Jiang! Are you home? I'm Chen Feng and I have something to talk to you about."

After a while, a voice came from the house: "I'm at home!" followed by a burst of hurried footsteps. After a while, the Jiang family's wife appeared at the door with a kind smile on her face and asked: "Chen Feng, what's the matter with you coming to see me?"

Chen Feng rubbed his hands, exhaled, and replied with a smile: "The weather is getting colder, so I went to the department store today to buy some cloth and cotton. But I am a grown man, how can I do such delicate work? So I would like to trouble you to help me put on a quilt and make me a set of cotton clothes. Do you think it's okay?"

"Sure! Why not?" Aunt Jiang agreed readily, and then asked Chen Feng cheerfully, "How thick of a quilt do you want?"

"It should be 1.5 meters wide, and the cotton should be 10 kilograms." Chen Feng thought about it and answered seriously. The fabric is in the sack! If it's not enough, please tell me!" Chen Feng said as he handed the sack behind him to Aunt Jiang.

Aunt Jiang took the sack and said, "Come inside. I need to measure your size."

"No, no, I won't go in. I've already measured the size." Chen Feng quickly waved his hand to refuse, and took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Aunt Jiang. "The data is written on it, just follow it."

Chen Feng thought to himself, there is no man in the Jiang family, only orphans and widows in the family, and Jiang's sister-in-law is less than 30 years old this year, which is the right age for young beauty. If a grown man like himself enters the house and is seen by those gossiping old women in the yard, who knows what kind of ugly gossip will be spread!

After seeing Aunt Jiang take the note, Chen Feng did not leave immediately, but asked again: "Do you think the cotton needs to be fluffed again? After all, the fluffier the cotton is, the warmer the cotton-padded clothes will be."

Hearing this, Aunt Jiang smiled and opened the sack, carefully checked the cotton, and gently touched it with her hands to feel its softness. Then she looked up at Chen Feng and replied in a positive tone: "No need to touch it, it's good as it is now! The cotton is of good quality and soft enough to keep you warm."

After receiving Aunt Jiang's approval, Chen Feng finally felt relieved and a relaxed smile appeared on his face. He said to Aunt Jiang gratefully, "Thank you for your help!"

Aunt Jiang waved her hand and said generously: "Don't be so polite, it's not a big deal! I usually don't have anything important to do at home, so I can help you with this."

Chen Feng was very moved and said quickly: "I don't want the remaining cloth and cotton. You can keep them for Xiaolong and Xiaohu to make a pair of cotton shoes. The weather is cold, and the children will be warmer wearing cotton shoes." (The cloth Chen Feng took was 1.5 meters wide, so there was a lot left. Don't ask me if there was such a wide cloth at that time. I am the author. If I say he has it, he has it!)

Aunt Jiang was so happy when she heard this. She said to Chen Feng with a smile on her face: "That's great! I will send the quilt and cotton-padded clothes to you when I finish them."

"Okay! Then I'll go back first, you go about your business!" After saying goodbye to Aunt Jiang, Chen Feng turned around and prepared to leave.

"Okay, take care! I'll go into the house and get busy too." Aunt Jiang nodded to Chen Feng, then turned and walked into the house.

Seeing Aunt Jiang enter the room, Chen Feng just turned around and heard Yan Fugui shouting behind him, "Chen Feng! Wait a minute! Wait a minute!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Feng turned around and looked at Yan Fugui in confusion. He was about to ask him why he called him.

Yan Fugui was seen pulling Chen Feng away from the Jiang family's door quickly. At the same time, he lowered his voice and said to him anxiously: "Why did you go to the Jiang family to make clothes just now! You should come to me if you want to make clothes! Your third aunt's needlework skills are famous around here!"

Chen Feng felt a little amused! Let's not talk about whether the third aunt's craftsmanship is good or not. With your Yan Fugui's personality, what comes into your Yan family without rinsing it for 30% first? Fifteen kilograms of cotton can make a bed and ten kilograms of quilts, which is good enough!

Chen Feng asked calmly, "If I ask your family to make quilts and clothes, should I pay Auntie San a little bit of wages?"

Yan Fugui replied: "Of course I have to give some! After all, it takes a day or two to sew a quilt or make a set of thick clothes!"

Chen Feng then asked, "If I stay up late at night to finish the work, do I have to pay you extra electricity bills?"

Yan Fugui blurted out without thinking: "Yeah! I do have to give you some. I also have to pay for my electricity!"

Chen Feng continued to ask: "And you were the one who introduced me to the three aunts who made quilts and cotton-padded clothes, so did you charge a little agency fee or commission from them?"

Yan Fugui nodded very affirmatively and said, "Yes, yes, yes! This is absolutely indispensable!"

"This is why I didn't ask Auntie San to help me make quilts and cotton-padded clothes." After saying this, Chen Feng looked at Yan Fugui.

After hearing this, Yan Fugui suddenly realized what was going on, and then walked home with a lost look on his face.

Chen Feng fooled him, but in fact he just didn't want their family to get any advantage.